


Loki Friggajarsons Guide To The Avengers (With Annotations By Bucky Barnes)

by Marie_Phantom



Series: Tumbleweed (Blowing In The Wind) [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Hand waving science, Jötunn Loki, Loki Feels, Loki and Bucky Are Bros, Multi, Past Brainwashing, Past Mpreg, Past Torture, Therapy, Thor Is Not Stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 01:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2291528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_Phantom/pseuds/Marie_Phantom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki takes the time to observe the Avengers, and find out how he fits in to an already tight dynamic. Luckily, Bucky has the same problem.</p>
<p>In which Loki and Bucky compare and contrast their opinions of the Avengers, and the Avengers take the time to evaluate the new guys as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loki Friggajarsons Guide To The Avengers (With Annotations By Bucky Barnes)

**Author's Note:**

> Here's another one. I made up the part about the heart, mainly because I needed Loki to survive, but also because i thought it would be interesting.

The first time Loki comes out of the Tower as part of the Avengers, he gets shot.

He did not fight, mainly because he is still under observation and that would be a breach in his parole conditions (as Tony calls them), but he comes out to help clean up, because New York is once again devastated and the Avengers need all the help they can get. Loki comes out with an escort detail, mainly because they know that the minute Loki shows his face, there will be a lot of New Yorkers wanting to put a bullet through it.

So it's a surprise when Loki stops cleaning away rubble, turns to Thor to ask for some water, and one of his escorts shoots him through the chest. 

They found out later that the man had lost his half-brother and two nieces in the Battle of New York (Loki version). Hill nearly goes puce when she finds out that nobody  checked this when they assigned him as protection for Loki.

From the moment that shot was heard, there was a beat of silence whilst Loki looked down at his chest and tilted his head at the spreading red. Then Thor roared in denial and flung Mjolnir at the man, turning him into strawberry jam on the pavement as Thor caught Loki as he collapsed. Loki's face twisted in pain and he started to gasp.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." Tony said, running over. His suit is at the Tower, waiting repairs, and he was only wearing a loose T-Shirt and jeans. He striped off the shirt and presses it to the wound in Loki's chest. Loki whined high at the pain and arched his back, trying to escape it.

"Lay him down, hold his hand." Natasha instructed. She too has come over and was holding Loki's legs still by sitting on them, making sure that on one gets kicked.

"BRUCE!" Tony roars, and Bruce comes hurrying over, keeping his over-large trousers up by holding the excess in his hand.

"Oh, crap." He swears when he sees Loki. Loki turned his head and coughed, spraying Thor's leg with blood. Thor bit back a sob and pushed back Loki's tangled hair.

"We need to get him to the medical floor in the Tower." Bruce instructs the others. Thor picks Loki up in his arms and calls Mjolnir, swinging her and flying towards the Tower in no time. Bruce is taken to the Tower by the others, whilst Tony calls ahead and instructs the doctors in what has happened and that they need to get prepped as soon as possible.

It is therefore a surprise when they get to the medical floor and find Loki lying on a bed, his torso bared but not under any anaesthetic or even surgery. Thor is shouting at the doctors cowering in the corner.

"You took an oath, you took an oath!" He cried. Bruce came striding in (now properly dressed) and frowned at the doctors.

"What are you doing?" he asks. One of the doctors came forward.

"That thing in not a man. We treat humans, not animals." The doctor said. Tony mused that the man must have balls the size of grapefruits to say that to the Hulk.

"You treated Thor for a burn not 6 days ago." Bruce waved a hand in Thor's general direction. "He's not human either. No offence." He throws over his shoulder to Thor.

Thor shrugs. "None taken." He goes back to Loki, stroking his face and encouraging him to keep breathing.

"He didn't destroy New York." Says the doctor. There is a beat of silence.

"You're all fired, get the fuck out of my Tower." Tony says. When the collective doctors and nurses don't move, he roars "NOW." They jump and scatter, leaving only three nurses. Tony then turns to Bruce, but before he can say anything, Bruce is striding forward and starting to scrub his arms.

"Prep him for surgery." He calls to one of the nurses. They move to Loki, and one gently escorts Thor away.

"I need you lot to leave the room." Bruce says over his shoulder. The Avengers nod and traipse out, Steve with his hand on Thor's arm.

Four hours later, Bruce stumbles in to the communal common room and collapses on the sofa. Thor immediately stands up and goes to the medical floor, where Loki s now resting.

Bruce mumbles something from under his hand.

"What was that?" Steve asks from when he is lying snuggled with Bucky.

Bruce takes his hand away. "The bullet nicked on of Loki's chambers in his heart. He nearly died."

It's only been a few weeks since the trial, and Loki is still not in any of their good books. Nevertheless, they all love Thor, and they had been worried about what would happen to their friend if Loki died on the table.

Bruce continued to rub his hand down his face.

"Whats the matter?" Tony asked. Bruce raised his head and looked at him with a small painful smile.

"The surgery was made all the more complicated by the unique structure of Loki's heart."

"How is it strange?" Steve said. He sat up and Bucky moaned slightly at the loss of his breathing mattress, but sat up as well and immediately leaned against Steve.

"Loki's heart has six chambers instead of four."

There was a beat of silence before Clint said "The fuck?" Bruce nodded.

"Loki's heart is about twice the size of ours, with the ability to pump blood around his body two times as fast as we could."

"That's fucking ironic." Clint mumbles. Natasha cuffs him over the back of the head.

"Why would he need such a big heart? Thor's heart is normal for his size." Pepper asked, frowning.

"Loki is not the same species at Thor. Their basic anatomy is different."

"Spooky." Tony mutters under his breath.

"So his biology is different, why is his heart so big?" Pepper asked again.

"It is because he is Jötunn." Thor said, coming back into the room. He slumps on the sofa beside Steve and Thor and tips his head back, staring at the ceiling.

"Care to explain, big guy?" Tony waves a hand.

"Their climate is very cold, almost inhospitable. Their bodies are mostly huge, but thin. They have a thick skin, but in order to keep their internal organs warm, they require a constant and quick supply of blood running thorough their veins. Because of their size, the blood needs to be able to move quickly and with great speed, and so their hearts pumps quickly to keep this going. Their hearts developed the six valves so that oxygen warmed blood would flow twice a quickly though the veins as normal, keeping their bodies warm throughout their long winters."

There is silence whilst the others digest this information, before Tony says "That's kind of cool."

"How do you know all that?" Bruce asks Thor.

Thor smiles a sad smile. "When Loki fell the first time, I spent almost a week with my mother, asking her any question I could about the Jötunn, so that I might know Loki better."

"But I thought the Jötunn and the Aesir were sworn enemies." Bucky said. Thor nodded.

"They are, but there was a time when the Jötunn would walk the halls of Asgard. Indeed, my father is half Jötunn. It is only relatively recently that there have been bad relations between us."

"Well, regardless of all this," Bruce said, standing up, "Loki won't be able to do much. Thor, you need to keep him rested for at least eight weeks, and I recommend that he stays in his Jötunn form for recovery, as being in his natural form will allow him to recover quicker."

Thor nodded. Loki had been in his natural form when he had visited, and he found that he almost preferred Loki as a Jötunn. 

Tony groaned and starting banging his head lightly against the table.

It was going to be a long eight weeks.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Loki spent the first two weeks of his recovery in bed, being waited on hand and foot by Thor. He found that he enjoyed this lifestyle for about 5 days before he got bored. He avoided the mirrors because of the bandages wrapping around his chest. He knew that his road to forgiveness was going to be a long one, but he had not thought that his first attack would come from the organisation he was now working for.

Thor spent all the time he could with Loki. He read to him, from any book he could get his hands on, and Loki would lie next to Thor, one cold hand resting on Thor's knee. Thor also taught Loki card games, which Loki loved.

Bucky would sneak into the room when Thor wasn't there, and he didn't feel like going to therapy. Together, Loki and Bucky would spend countless hours playing poker, as each had a flawless poker face, and each game would end with both Loki and Bucky sitting on the bed, glaring at each other and completely naked. Neither had any money to bet, so strip-poker was the only way to play.

Bucky was fascinated by Loki's scars, and, when they finally stopped pushing against his skin and came through, his horns. Sometimes they would do nothing but curl up together, Bucky's fingers gently tracing his scars and Loki playing with the fingers of Bucky's metal arm.

"Aren't you jealous?" Bruce once asked Thor when he came in to the room and saw them together. Thor shook his head.

"Why should I be jealous? Loki and Bucky are twins in being and what they have been through and Loki would never betray me."

Sometimes Steve would also join them, and he and Bucky would sit with Loki, painting verbal pictures about their lives before the war and their battles after the serum. Loki was fascinated by the past, and would ask endless questions about living in 1930's New York.

But after two weeks in bed, Loki made his way down to the communal common room and sat by the television.

This was the first time he had been with the other Avengers in his true form, and he was very nervous about the response he might get.

Tony was the only person there, and he stopped eating in order to gaze at Loki as he shuffled though. Loki's skin was not the normal healthy blue, but pale blue like dyed milk. His horns were still small, only point up, but the tips curled over his head. Thor thought that one day, they might curl high, not unlike the horns of Loki's helm.

(Loki wondered whether Odin had been mocking him when giving him his helm, then decided that he did not want to think about Odin, and so stopped that line of thought.)

"Whoa, you look like a smurf." Tony blurted out. Loki turned on the sofa and frowned at him.

"What is a smurf?" he asked. Tony grinned.

"Something that I'm gonna have to introduce you to, purely for my own entertainment."

Loki turned back to the television with a grimace, and picked up the remote. He switched on the television and flicked through the channels, trying to find something to watch. He found a modern based detective series and settled down.

"I approve your choice. The main man is very good looking." Tony said. Loki jumped, for it had come from directly over his shoulder. He turned and glared at Tony, who grinned cheekily back.

"Do you mind?" Loki asked icily.

"Not at all." Tony replied and hopped over the sofa, settling in beside Loki, who glared at him. Tony ignored him and watched the screen, where the detective was telling expelling to the other main character why the murder victims suitcase had to be pink.

They sat for a while, watching television, and with occasionally reaching up to his temples to scratch at the skin around his horns. When he reached up for the fifth time to scratch, Tony reached out and slapped his hand.

"Ow!" Loki said and glared at Tony.

"Don't pick, it'll scar."

Loki snorted and gestured to his horns. "As if the scarring would get as bad as it already is."

Tony looked sideways and cast a speculative glance at Loki's horns. "I don't know there, Sparky. Your horns look pretty cool."

"They are a nuisance."

"To each his own. I guess that Thor likes them, otherwise you would have filed them down."

Loki shifted uncomfortably, which confirmed what Tony thought. Tony grinned widely at Loki. 

"Thor is kinkkkkkkkkkkky!"

"No he isn't. He's just appreciative!" Loki said hotly.

Tony frowned at Loki, hearing the subtext. "You're confused as to why he likes them."

Loki didn't do anything, but then nodded slowly. "I don't understand how he can like me like this. All of your lives, we were told that Jötunn were fearsome creatures that deserved nothing more than to be wiped out. Even their appearance was not something to be tolerated. And yet, since we have become lovers, Thor had done nothing but lavish love on my appearance."

"That may be true, and by the way, TMI, but why are you so confused about it?" Tony turned in his seat and crossed his legs, now staring openly at Loki. 

Loki bit his lip and tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling. He then sighed deeply and said, slowly "I don't understand how Thor can love me, when I look like the monster from his childhood and have been the monster of his present."

Tony blew out a breath. He thought that there were therapists to deal with this kind of stuff, but knew, deep down, that only people who had had similar life experiences would know.

"You think you're a monster, because of what you did under coercion?" He said lowly. Loki lifted his head and turned it to Tony, looking confused. Tony gestured to himself. "I was a true monster."

Loki scoffed, but Tony interrupted him. "I was a monster, because I built weapons that I knew killed hundreds of people, and I did this for _years_." 

Loki looked at him, and then said "But you are an Avenger now. You are a good person."

Tony laughed a mean spirited laugh. "That doesn't wipe the slate clean. I have the blood of thousands of innocents on my hands. My job, all this," he gestured around the room, to the Tower, "It's my way to atone for what I did, so that I can get to sleep at night."

"How can you bear it?" Loki asked.

Tony shrugged. "I have Pepper." Loki scoffed.

"That's you answer? Your woman."

Tony looked at Loki with a stony expression. "That's exactly it."

"How can that be?"

"I try to become a better person for her. Even when she was just my secretary, she was still someone I wanted to impress. Even when she was looking at me, when I built those machines, she was still someone who I asked for advice, who I looked up to. I want to become someone who deserves her, I want to be able to sleep next to her at night and wake up in the morning with her, and be seen next to her, because I love her and she deserves that."

Tony watched Loki pick at the thread on the sofa, and sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You wanna know what her secret is?"

"Do tell."

"She lets me be me."

Loki looked at Tony with a frown on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she doesn't try to change me. She loves me, God knows why, because I'm Tony Stark, International Screw Up and former Playboy. She loved me even when I was willingly committing mass murder, because she could see the good in me, and always searched for that."

Loki looked at the sofa, and a single tear dropped on to the fabric, staining it darker.

"I reckon Thor's a bit like that as well." Tony said, before standing up from the sofa and ruffling Loki's hair. He then went away, going down to his lab to tinker with his suits and generally avoid everyone.

Loki sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the screen and thought about what Tony had said. Perhaps he wasn't as alone as he had thought.

 

 

*************

 

 

Loki placed a card on the pile before asking Bucky "What do you make of Tony Stark?"

Bucky shrugged. "He's a good man, trying to make up for being a bad one."

Loki bit his lip, and didn't speak.

There was silence, and the card game was being packed up, before Bucky said without looking at Loki. "Kind of like us."

Loki smiled. "Yes, kind of like us."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Loki was in the gym, doing some physiotherapy exercises when Natasha and Clint walked in, both stripping off in preparation for sparring. Loki immediately went to his things and picked them up, trying to walk out of the room. Of all the Avengers, Natasha was the only one that scared him, not only because she had managed to beat him at his own game, but also because she had a darkness in her eyes that spoke to Loki on a deep level, and he did not want to know what acts he could commit should he give in.

He loved Thor, and that was that.

Thor was currently on their floor, preparing dinner. Loki wandered past Natasha when she said to him, without looking "I know for a fact that you have more excursuses than that."

Loki gritted his teeth in annoyance and turned to them, looking at Clint who was gesticulating wildly and glaring hard at Natasha, who wasn't noticing.

"I make you companion uncomfortable when I am in close proximity. I would prefer not to do that."

"Oh, don't mind him. He's just throwing a hissy fit."

Clint made a chocked sound in outrage and glared harder at Natasha.

"I'd rather not do my exercises with someone glaring at me." Loki smiled grimly at Natasha, and resolutely did not look at Clint, who was trying to drill holes through Loki's head with his eyes.

"Carry on, and just ignore us." And with that, Natasha gave a round-house kick to Clint's head, which he blocked and started fighting back.

Loki walked back to his area and put down his bag, continuing his exercises, always keeping Natasha and Clint in the corner of his eye. Natasha and Clint were brutal, but fair, and Loki supposed that it was due to the face that each was the other's best friend (and spouse) that prevented them from truly beating the hell out of the other.

Loki finished his exercises, and pulled out his water, sitting on the edge of the boxing ring and looking at the couple fighting. It is disconcertingly beautiful, and Loki tried to remember the last time he sparred with Thor without wanting to kill him (too long, too long).

When he is better, he will come down here with Thor, and they will fight. It will be glorious.

He daydreamed, half paying attention. So he was surprised when Natasha slumped down next to him and stole his water.

"You're welcome." Loki said sarcastically. 

"Cheers. He doesn't hate you." 

Loki was temporarily floored. He sputtered and then drew himself up, looking at Natasha coldly. She wasn't looking at him, but continued to sip her water, staring after when Clint has disappeared to. 

"I think you'll find that he does."

"Listen, I know my husband," Natasha turned and fixed Loki with hard eyes, which Loki shifted uncomfortably under, "and I know he doesn't hate you. He wants to, he really doesn't, but he knows exactly what you went through, and so he cannot hate you."

Loki shifted and thought. "What about you?" he asked eventually.

Natasha shrugged and stood up, handing Loki back his empty water bottle. "I stand by what I said before. I'll forgive you when he does. But I don't hate you either."

"Why?"

Natasha pursed her lips, and then sighed deeply. "I also know what it's like to be controlled, to have everything that is you scrapped out of your brain and replied by something that you wouldn't agree with."

"The Red Room."

Natasha nodded. "James trusts you, and Thor does as well, and for me, that's enough."

Loki gave her a small smile. "You would get on very well with my daughter. I cannot fathom her as well."

Natasha grinned and turned, walking out of the room.

 

 

*************

 

 

"Natasha is unfathomable." Loki says to Bucky later that day as they shredded lettuce for the salad. Thor and Steve were on the balcony, manning the barbaque and pretending that they weren't listening in.

"That she is." Bucky said.

"I don't quite know what to make of her. She...I..." Loki shrugged helplessly. Bucky grinned at him.

"She's quite a woman. I remember shooting her. Not one of my better memories, but I think it demonstrates her abilities and her spirit quite well."

Loki looked at Bucky with wide eyes. "You shot her?"

Bucky scowled at Loki. "Yes, but that's not my point. My point is, she's strong, and keeps going. She'll never stop. Ever."

"I suppose you're right." Loki mused.

"Clint needs time." Bucky nudged Loki's shoulder and picked up the bowl of salad, carrying it outside and accepting a gentle kiss to his temple from Steve. Loki looked at them, how good they look together, and his heart constricted.

Then Thor turned, and smiled at him, and he felt better. He followed Bucky outside, to where his family stood, and accepted love.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Loki lay back on the bed, listening to Bruce mutter to himself as he examined the scar on his chest. He poked it and asked Loki to move his arms, testing its manoeuvrability. Loki was slightly tense, still not comfortable around Bruce, and that was why Thor was standing by the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed and looking at the two of them with lowered eyelids.

"That's great, you're healing much better than I would have thought." Bruce said, standing back. Loki shivered and stared up at the ceiling. He did not feel much like moving at the moment.

Bruce looked at Loki, fro his growing horns to the slight claws on the tips of his feet. He frowned when he saw silvery marks on Loki's lower stomach.

"Are those stretch marks?" he said, slightly incredulously. Loki tensed and nodded.

"I didn't know people like you could get fat." Bruce asked, turning around and pulling off his gloves. 

Loki chuckled tightly and pulled himself off of the bed. He reached for his shirt. "I was, in a way." By the door, Thor stood up and tensed slightly.

Bruce frowned and turned around. "What do you mean?"

Loki gave Bruce a shallow smile. "I have been pregnant four times. The marks on my belly are from me carrying my children."

Bruce gaped at him. "So, those legends..."

Loki did not look at Bruce, but instead focused on doing up the buttons on his shirt. "Most of them are true. I say most, because my only spouse up until now has been Angrboda, and I have never had twins."

Bruce looked slightly sick. "So Sleipnir's actual father was a horse."

Loki nodded, still looking at his shirt. "He was actually a shapeshifter, but spent most of his time in horse form. To such an extent that he forgot his original form."

"And Odin really threatened you."

"Yes." Loki turned to Bruce and gave a grim smile. "I have no shame in bearing children, and I love all of them. But to the Aesir, I was nothing but a freak and a trickster, who should be used when necessary and then put aside and forgotten until needed again. You can see why I have had no problem leaving them."

Thor made a move to comfort Loki, but Loki whirled out of the door, ignoring Thor and nearly running away. Thor looked at Bruce with an apologetic smile.

"I have never considered him a freak, merely Loki." He said.

"His biology says that he can carry children, but he didn't know that until quite recently I understand." Bruce said, tidying up the bed.

"Indeed. I see now what a mistake my father has made, not telling us the truth about Loki." 

"It might have been better if he had." Bruce agreed. He finished tidying up and turned to Thor. "You know, for ages I considered myself a freak as well."

"Because of the Hulk."

"Yes. It's only been really recently that I have kind of accepted myself as being two separate people, and not an abomination."

"How did you do that?" Thor asked, head tilting in curiosity.

"I was given a purpose." Bruce gave Thor a sad smile. "I was given a reason to see why my Other Half wasn't so bad, because if he could fight for the good guys, and win for the good guys, then he might be a good guy as well."

Thor nodded slowly. "I see what you are saying. Loki needs to find his place amongst us, and then his opinion of himself might change."

"Kind of like that. It won't happen instantaneously, but slowly, over time. Give it a couple of years, he has a lifetime of conditioning to break."

Thor nodded and thanked Bruce, walking out of the door. He wasn't surprised to find Loki sitting on the floor in the corridor, head tilting back as he listened to the conversation that had been going on. Thor smiled down at him and offered a hand, pulling Loki up and into a kiss to his forehead. Thor then entangled their fingers and walked back to their floor, leading Loki back to safety.

 

 

*************

 

 

"Have you spoken to Bruce?' Loki asked Bucky, as they curled up together watching the Avengers fight the newest bad guy. Bucky shifted fro where he was lying and peered up at Loki, frowning.

"About what?"

Loki shifted uncomfortably and refused to look Bucky in the eye. "Self-worth. Seeing yourself as something other than defective, other than worthless."

Bucky snorted. There was no humour in it. "Who do you think I talk you when I really need to hear something about my self-worth and Steve isn't there? Bruce knows better than all of us about the destruction of the self."

"What about Natasha?"

Bucky shook his head. "Natasha is wonderful, but she has managed to find herself again through S.H.I.E.L.D."

Loki thought about that, and then said "I suppose that you and I are not the only ones with issues."

"Ha!" Bucky said, sitting up and really looking at Loki. "All of use are screwed in the head. Bruce just understands our own issues about worthlessness better than the others."

"All of that because he changes into a Giant Green Man with rage problems."

"It's not just that." Bucky shook his head. "It's about that fact that whenever he gets uncontrollably angry, he literally surrenders his own personality and becomes another person. His self disappears, and he is left at the mercy of another person. And then, when he comes back, he's the one who had to take responsibility for something that he kind of didn't do." 

Loki nodded slowly. "I suppose you are right. His sense of self is diminished by taking the blame for something somebody else did, and this is compounded by the fact that that somebody is actually a manifestation of himself, and nobody likes that part of him."

"Except Tony Stark. He loves the Hulk."

Loki snorted. "Tony Stark is a law unto himself." He bit his lip. "Bruce is stuck in a vicious cycle."

Bucky tiled his head. "Not any more."

Loki smiles softly. "Yes. He is somewhat lucky to fall into the right crowd."

"As are we." Bucky snuggled back into Loki and cheered at a robot was punted down the length of the street by the Hulk.

"As are we." Loki said, watching the television as well.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Loki wandered in to the kitchen on his floor, yawning and stretching, when he saw Steve cooking pancakes.

"Good morning Loki." Steve said, expertly flipping the pancake in the pan and then transferring it to a plate already stacked high. He put the pan in the sink and drizzled syrup into the stack, putting the plate in front of Loki.

"That was well timed." Loki said suspiciously. He sat down and poked the stack with a fork, but made no move to dig in.

"I've been around he enough times to know when you wake up. Besides, I've never really thanked you for saving my life."

Loki looked sharply at Steve, and dropped his fork. "I do not require thanks."

Steve shrugged. "Nevertheless, you have it."

"I didn't really do anything." Loki picked up his fork and took a bite. They were light and fluffy, just the way he liked them.

"You managed to convince Bucky that he was Bucky, something I didn't even manage to do."

"The groundwork was already laid, I just used what was there." Loki was getting more and more uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.

"Nevertheless."

There was silence as Steve cooked more breakfast and Loki ate his. Loki had finished and was taking his plate to the sink when Steve asked him "Why did you save me?"

Loki didn't start, but instead answered with his back to Steve. "Those weeks I spent at the mercy of S.H.I.E.L.D, I could have gone through every torture know to your kind for what I did. Instead, you showed me mercy, and made sure that I was kept fed and entertained." Loki finished washing and turned to Steve, looking at him with hard red eyes. "You are the most human Midgardian I have ever met, and I would have had to truly surrender my soul if I chose not to help you. And I hope that I am not the gone yet."

Steve gave Loki a small smile. "You have goodness in you, I see that. One day, I hope you can see that too."

Loki swallowed and didn't reply. He hurried to his room and spent the day in bed, thinking about what Steve had said and trying to remember when the last time was when he had been called a good man by anyone other than Thor.

It had been a very long time.

 

 

*************

 

 

"Steve...Steve is....I..." Loki struggled.

Bucky smiled. "I know."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Loki would often tease Thor as he did when they had been children. He pulled pranks when the thought Thor would not be expecting them (Thor _always_ expected pranks), teased him about becoming Midgardian, and spent more and more time around the others, leaving Thor to his own devices.

But at night, Thor would cuddle Loki in his arms, now that he was better. He would rub his face against Loki's horns, now fully grown, and trace the markings on his skin.

The first time Loki went back to his more familiar form since he had been shot, Thor had pouted briefly, then grinned and taken Loki to bed for the day, reminding him that he loved Loki in whatever form.

Loki loved Thor during the night, because Thor did not bother to censor what he said to Loki, and Loki knew that only the truth would pour from Thor's lips. So at night, he would lie in Thor's arms, and listen as Thor did everything he could to convince Loki that Loki could be something other than a monster. Sometimes it even worked.

During the day, Thor fought for Loki's acceptance with both the media and the Avengers, and Loki would stand at the side, looking at Thor with a swollen heart and love in his sly, narrow eyes.

Thor was Loki's forever and always, and Loki was Thor's. That was the way it had always been, and that was the way it always would be.

 

 

***********

 

 

"There not a bad bunch, these Avengers." Bucky said as he and Loki stood in the kitchen of the communal area, watching at the team fought and laughed as they put the table together.

"No." Loki said slowly. "Not bad as all."


End file.
